Monroe County hits $160K in food and beverage tax distributions for COVID-19 business relief, looks for approval of another $200K

At their regular Wednesday morning meeting, Monroe County commissioners authorized another $95,500 in support of COVID-19 relief for tourism-related businesses outside the city of Bloomington.

Nine business received grant awards ranging from $2,500 to $23,000.

cropped 2020-04-29 commissioners Shot 2020-04-29 at 11.02.47 AM — Screen shot of the Zoom video conference for the April 29, 2020 Monroe County board of commissioners meeting.

That adds to the total of $68,352 they approved last week for the same purpose.

Some of the roughly $36,000 that now remains from a $200,000 appropriation of food and beverage tax proceeds could be distributed to other businesses on Friday at 3 p.m. That’s when the commissioners will resume their meeting. The Wednesday session was not adjourned.

President of the board of commissioners, Julie Thomas, said that the applications that might be considered by Friday had come in after a soft deadline.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners authorized a request to the food and beverage tax advisory commission (FABTAC ) of another $200,000 for COVID-19 business relief.

Same as before, the relief would go to tourism-related businesses in the county and outside the city limits of Bloomington. FABTAC would likely need to convene a special meeting to consider the request. Continue reading “Monroe County hits $160K in food and beverage tax distributions for COVID-19 business relief, looks for approval of another $200K” →

Bloomington: $550K in COVID-19 small business relief loans awarded so far using food and beverage tax proceeds, about $250K already distributed

Screen grab from April 22, 2020 Zoom video conference of Bloomington’s city council meeting.

Version 2 R Out Stacked Side by side Bar Chart for FB city process

In a press release issued Wednesday afternoon, the city of Bloomington announced that a total of $550,700 has now been approved in loans to 22 businesses that applied for COVID-19 relief funds.

The city currently has a pool of $2.5 million to draw on for loans to local businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

That pool was created through a series of actions by Bloomington’s city council, the food and beverage tax advisory commission and the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association over the last couple of weeks. Continue reading “Bloomington: $550K in COVID-19 small business relief loans awarded so far using food and beverage tax proceeds, about $250K already distributed” →

Bloomington businesses impacted by COVID-19 could start to tap over $2M in local bridge loans by end of next week

On Thursday, the city of Bloomington officially launched a loan program for businesses and non-profits inside the city limits that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The application for Rapid Response Fund loans went live around 2 p.m.

A bit after 1 p.m. on Friday, under 24 hours after the form was launched, five completed applications had been received for the loans, which have a limit of $50,000 per business. Another five dozen or so applications were in the works, according the Bloomington’s director of public engagement, Mary Catherine Carmichael.

Alex Crowley, Bloomington’s director of economic and sustainable development, said on Thursday the volume of applications could affect how fast they could be processed. Crowley said the city would proceeding “very aggressively to make the turnaround time as short as possible.” Crowley hopes businesses could have money in hand by the end of next week (April 17). Continue reading “Bloomington businesses impacted by COVID-19 could start to tap over $2M in local bridge loans by end of next week” →

Bloomington’s city council now set for next step in consideration of $2M for economic relief of businesses and workers

cropped standing committee meeting Screen Shot 2020-03-31 at 5.28.51 PM — A screen grab of Tuesday’s (March 31, 2020) Zoom-based meeting of the Bloomington city council’s sustainable development committee. In the main frame is Alex Crowley, Bloomington’s director of economic and sustainable development.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Bloomington area local businesses can now seen on charts and graphs.

The pandemic has spiked the county’s initial unemployment claims to four times the number seen during the highest week of the 2008–2009 economic downturn. Even higher numbers could be recorded next week. Unemployment numbers are released on Tuesdays.

In addition to fresh unemployment figures, this Tuesday brought a first detailed look at Bloomington’s effort to use $2 million of food and beverage tax money, as well as other funds, to provide economic relief to businesses and workers .

That’s when the Bloomington city council’s four-member sustainable development standing committee heard a report from an economic stability and recovery (ESR) working group formed by Mayor John Hamilton. Continue reading “Bloomington’s city council now set for next step in consideration of $2M for economic relief of businesses and workers” →

Monroe County, Bloomington both putting food and beverage tax money towards COVID-19 economic relief

panel view Screen Shot 2020-03-25 at 2.14.11 PM — Screen grab of the March 25, 2020 meeting of the Monroe County council, conducted on the videoconferencing platform Zoom.

council Zoom screen shot Screen Shot 2020-03-25 at 8.56.41 PM — Screen grab of the March 25, 2020 meeting of the Bloomington city council, conducted on on the videoconferencing platform Zoom.

Added together, Bloomington and Monroe County’s respective shares of unexpended food and beverage tax revenues, collected countywide since early 2018, stand at around $5.7 million.

In separate actions over the last week, Bloomington and Monroe County elected officials have taken steps towards appropriating $2.2 million of that money for relief of businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

By early Wednesday, March 25, COVID-19 had claimed 14 lives in the state of Indiana. Continue reading “Monroe County, Bloomington both putting food and beverage tax money towards COVID-19 economic relief” →